My Body My Choice?

 Hmm I guess that depends.  So I've been a volunteer EMT for over 30 years, I've seen a lot of things come and go. I was taught how to use MAST trousers- yeah I'm that old.

So when I first started volunteering, the HIV crisis was in full swing, HIPPA was just a mis-spelling of hippo and the old timers pooh-poohed at wearing gloves. "Ya can't do anything with these on your hands."

The one thing I soon learned in healthcare was that people get to make their own decisions...at least if you are a patient. "My body, my choice"

You want an abortion?

You want to be a girl/boy?

You want piercings and tattoos?

You want to cuss me out for being a .....? 

You can go right ahead. 

The politicians and healthcare systems were fully supportive. If you are over the age of 18 you get to make decisions and the rest of the world has to live with it! And I had to treat them with respect.

HIPPA was passed in 1996 to ensure that I don't talk about your decisions to anyone. When HIPPA went into affect foster parents were told that they were not allowed to know if a child was potentially HIV positive. This was in the days when we didn't know what was causing it or for sure how it was transmitted.

But now, suddenly whole systems are mandating that your medical history is available to your employer and if you don't receive the COVID vaccine by a certain date, you will need to have the COVID test every two weeks...or lose your job.(Currently the case in our area of Pennsylvania.)

"Big deal," you say," they will hire more help and all will go on as before."

It does matter

Hiring many replacement nurses, paramedics, EMTs destabilizes a system. Yes, new hires are great --in small doses. You can absorb the mis-steps and hesitations that come with working with a new partner. But, from experience, I don't want that hesitation to happen when it's my patient OR when it's my loved one. 

Last year this time these same unvaccinated nurses, paramedics and EMTs were HEROS! 

We had bill boards along the roads praising us. This year they are expendable. Something isn't right in the world....well I know there are a lot of things not right, but this one is bugging me this morning.

BTW, I have my vaccine, - it was my choice.   Let's allow others to have a choice and not de-stabilize our healthcare system any further.